ELCMJunior Work In The

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia

A Ministryfor Inactive andUnevangelised

Children

To introduce Junior Work in your

congregation, please contact the Diocesan Junior Work Committee’s

Chairman or Secretary: Tel: 03-2274 1033 / 03-2274 0204

Write-up and concept by Bishop Dr. Solomon Rajah Published by: ELCM

(The star is a symbolic representation of the person and work of Christ. This symbol is linked to the motto of Junior Work : To Follow The Star).

In the light of this theological motto, all teachings of Junior Work are geared to lead juniors to discover Jesus Christ for themselves. The resource materials, called Star-files, attempt to provide experiences for each individual junior to grow spiritually, aesthetically, physically, socially and intellectually.

The Star-files educate the junior in the knowledge of Christ, worship and the nature of the church; in arts (music, drama…), in physical fitness (sportsmanship, game skills…), in social skills and in the enjoyment of the natural environment (camping, survival skills…) Juniors “grow together” with their peer group under the wings of the local congregations and are nurtured to become leaders to a team of juniors at the age of 18.

Junior Work is not an immediate success programme. No matter what ministry the Church undertakes, it cannot assume that the ministry will achieve success immediately. It is not being successful that makes a Church a success; a successful Church is faithful to its mission mandate. Junior Work is a long-term project.

Junior Work has been faithful to its mission mandate. In nurturing and reaching out to inactive and unevengelised children with the message of salvation, it is a viable form of ministry for the ELCM. This is true even though the number of children involved increase and decreases over the years.

Junior Work is an instrument for the Word of God to do its own work, and has brought the gospel to many children both inside and outside local congregations. Many who have joined the local Junior Work programmes as juniors are now faithful members of the church; some of these members have come to Christian faith from different religious backgrounds.

Junior Work is a mission-oriented programme of the ELCM, with links to international organizations such as Svenska Kyrkans Unga of Sweden, Frivilligt Drenge Ferbund (FDF) of Denmark, Poiken Kerkus of Finland and Global Fellowship of Christian Youth in United Kingdom. In addition, in 1979, many competent Junior Work leaders of the ELCM pioneered Junior Work in various congregations and areas of the Tamil and Arcot Evangelical Lutheran Church in South India and also started Junior Work in Lutheran Church in Bangladesh in 1994. In 2014, Junior Work was introduced to India Evangelical Lutheran Church by ELCM Junior Work leaders.

In the light of this theological motto, all teachings

of Junior Work are geared to lead juniors to discover Jesus

Christ for themselves.

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Junior Work was pioneered by Deacon Jerker Sandegard, a missionary of the Church of Sweden in the year 1966. Towards the end of 1967 Junior Work became part of the local congregational ministry in the suburbs and outskirts of Kuala Lumpur (Sentul, Kampong Pandan and Petaling Jaya), and in the main towns and rural areas of peninsular Malaysia (Penang, Teluk Intan and Port Dickson), In 1970, Junior Work was also established in the congregations of Singapore as well. Junior Work is classified as a teaching ministry under the auspices of ELCM Christian education programme. Junior Work programmes are designed and modified to meet the needs of local children, aged between 9 to 14. Junior Work has a twofold purpose. First, to enhance retention of “inactive” congregational children. (The term “inactive” refers to Sunday School children in this age group who are too young to participate in youth programmes.) Second, to

reach unevangelised children in the vicinity of local congregations.

Therefore, Junior Work programmes are involved in God’s gracious purpose, namely the salvation of all people (Colossians 3:16-17). The programmes also proved and opportunity for all members to fulfil the responsibility entrusted to the church to teach the Word of God to others (Matthew 28:19-20). In this way, evangelism and Christian education have become the two significant concerns of the ELCM. These two concerns are fully realised in the objective of Junior Work, especially when children are brought into a living encounter and fellowship with Christ (John 3:1-17), thus fulfilling Junior Work’s underlying goal of following the star, Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:1-10).

(The phrase “unevangelised” related to children of other faiths; the local congregation is ideally placed to share the gospel with this children). People in congregations have been, and are being trained as leaders to facilitate and to conduct Junior Work programmes in the local areas. To date more than 40 leadership training courses, on basic and advanced levels, have been conducted to both equip and upgrade the skills of participants. Leadership training is carried out by the ELCM Junior Work Committee which is run by a Diocesan-appointed committee; each committee serves a three year term. The Junior Work Committee is responsible for the implementation of programmes at Diocesan level.

The following congregations are actively involved in Junior Work: Zion Cathedral - KL, Cheras-KL, Sri Subang - Selangor, Good Hope - PJ, Holy Cross, Meru, Puchong - Selangor, Port Dickson - Negeri Sembilan, Bethany-Teluk Intan, Holy Trinity - Teluk Intan, Batu Gajah - Ipoh, Our Saviour - Johor Bahru, Kluang and Kulai - Johor. So far a total of 49 national anniversary camps have been held involving juniors and leaders from all parts of Peninsular Malaysia, Sweden and India. Junior Work will be holding its 50th Anniversary Camp on 29th April - 2nd May 2016.

Junior Work involves the saving work of God, In this work, the church becomes involved as an “educating community” by making its educational programme available both within and outside its community of believers.